


In Every Universe (Different Realities Remix)

by Neverever



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Marvel 3490
Genre: F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Multiverse, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 14:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10493112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: Natasha Stark gets sent to another universe where she finds a Steve missing his Tony.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Veldeia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veldeia/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Not Your Reality (The Time-Out Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10409307) by [Veldeia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veldeia/pseuds/Veldeia). 



> Part of the Captain America/Iron Man Relay Remix 2017.

The problem with working with Reed was never knowing if his plans were going to work exactly as intended, or if something bad would happen along the way. Reed would quirk an eyebrow and rub his hands and act like the bad thing was an extra special bonus to scientific understanding. While Natasha and Steve calculated how much fighting they’d have to do to clean up the mess left by the bad thing. 

Natasha did not have time in her schedule for a fight today. 

So Natasha crossed her fingers and hoped that they would be able to return their surprise guest, Steve Rogers -- aka Iron Man -- back to his universe without too much fuss. She was getting married tomorrow and did not need anything else to go wrong. 

By her side, her Steve squeezed her hand and whispered, “Reed will get it right.”

Reed shot them a thumb’s up. “We’re good to go.”

“It was nice to meet you, Steve,” her Steve said, shaking the other Steve’s hand. 

“Good luck with the wedding,” replied the other Steve as he stepped into Reed’s portal.

What should have happened was that visitor-Steve would return to his universe, nice and tidy, and Natasha would get her afternoon back. What happened instead was that after other-Steve stepped through the portal and Reed announced that he had arrived home, a blinding light flashed through the portal and snagged Natasha and pulled her into the portal.

Yeah, so much for Reed’s plan.

Natasha was wearing the suit because she was super smart and knew the possibility of all sorts of things going wrong in Reed’s workshop. Snapping the visor into place, she stepped out of the portal into some sort of industrial warehouse filled with equipment and assorted Avengers. 

“Iron Man!” a young woman in blue mask shouted from the side.

Captain America, in full uniform and cowl, came up to her, his expression unreadable. Based on her last multiverse adventure, Natasha wasn't ready to assume she was dealing with a Steve Rogers here. 

“Tony –“ he said, reaching out a gloved hand.

“I’m Natasha,” she blurted out.

Captain America stopped short, took a defensive stance, and whipped out the shield. “Stay right there.”

“Whoa, big fella,” she said. “I come in peace.” 

“Cap, it’s not our Tony – it’s a different universe’s Tony,” said a man in a Falcon costume. He sat at a nearby computer station, surrounded by coffee cups and printouts covered in calculations. 

“I’m Natasha Stark,” Natasha said. “Not Antoinette. Or Toni. Natasha.” She removed her helmet as a friendly gesture.

She couldn’t access a computer from the suit in this universe so she didn’t know who she was dealing with team-wise. They had a Cap, a Falcon, a Hawkeye, a Captain Marvel, and a Bruce Banner here, but she couldn’t place the girl in the mask or the man who seemed to have an Ant-Man uniform. There was no Iron Man.

Cap put his shield away. His shoulders slumped slightly, his eyes downcast. “We should get Iron Man, uh, Natasha, back home.”

“Yes – yes, we should – I’m getting married tomorrow and I’ve got a lot to do. Where is Reed?”

“Reed?”

“You know, Reed Richards? Mr. Fantastic? Fantastic Four?” She was becoming less and less a fan of this multiverse thing – you never knew who existed in what universe or what was going on. And she was definitely not enamored of the bunker look of this Avengers base. Why weren’t they in Avengers Tower?

Falcon looked at Bruce. Bruce adjusted his glasses. “Reed Richards is currently on a scientific expedition.”

“Okay. You guys brought me here, right? So you can get me back. Let me take a look at your calculations.” 

Unlike her Falcon, this Sam was one of this team’s scientists. He showed her their work so far. “Our Tony is lost somewhere in the multiverse,” he explained. 

“So you got me when you were trying to get her back?” Natasha asked. She set down the helmet and picked up a pencil to fix a few numbers. The calculations were solid, for the most part, but needed a few improvements.

“Get him back,” Cap corrected. He took off his cowl and pushed his hair into place. “We’re getting him back,” he said, his jaw tight and face grim.

Oh, right, the multiverse thing – in some universe or other there was bound to be a male version of her. “You mean Tony, as in Anthony?” she asked, to confirm her thinking.

“Yes,” Cap said. “Tony.”

This Cap looked a lot like her Steve – same blond hair, blue eyes and deep voice. She decided he had to be Steve here. But this Steve had a painful haunted look in his eyes. Were any Steves happy in any universe other than her own?

“He’s lost somewhere in the multiverse,” Sam said. “We connect to him every now and then. We had a good lead on getting him back – but –“

“I came out instead? Hmm.” She tapped her chin. “Reed was sending a Steve back to that Steve’s universe when your portal pulled me here. Hmmm. This can’t be that hard.”

“You said you were getting married?” Steve asked.

“Tomorrow at 3 – to my Steve, um, Captain America,” she replied. “We were supposed to be married two months ago, but there was this Skrull attack and we ended up delaying it.” She showed her new calculations to Bruce and Sam. 

She glanced up at Steve, who had a strange, fleeting look of hope on his face. Or perhaps it was something else. She had walked into a crisis of sorts for these Avengers, and she didn’t have the time to sort out what was going on. But an unhappy Steve so like her own Steve tugged at her heart. 

Her Steve right now was probably hounding Reed to find and bring her back. He wouldn’t rest until she was back with him safe and sound. He’d look a lot like this Steve; tired, restless, worried. 

She nearly groaned as the pieces snapped into place. She thought of that other Steve who had not met his Natasha Stark. What was worse for a Captain America – not to meet their Iron Man or to lose their Iron Man? 

Unconsciously, she put her hand on his shoulder to offer comfort. She would rip the multiverse itself apart to get her Steve back. Clearly, this Steve was prepared to do exactly that. 

Bruce whistled low. “I see what to do now – we were missing that one equation.” He tapped Sam’s shoulder. “Can you fix the code –?“

“I can,” Natasha said firmly as she sat down at one of the computers. “Let’s get this done.”

A half-hour later and she was standing at the portal again with Cap. Steve had put his cowl on again, at the ready in case something went badly. 

“I – I hope that the wedding goes well.”

“It has to – I’m tired of the planning,” Natasha muttered. She gave Steve a reassuring smile. “Your friends will get him back for you.”

He nodded tightly and swallowed. “They don’t know,” he said, nodding at the team swarming around the computer bank. “But we were going to get married – talking about it. Something simple at the courthouse–“

“If your Avengers are anything like my Avengers, you’ll be getting married in no time,” she assured him.

The portal sizzled and popped into life next to them. “Get ready to go,” Sam said. 

She leaned in close to Steve. “I can’t imagine a universe where Cap and Iron Woman – in your case, Iron Man – aren’t together.”

He smiled at her, a true, hopeful smile that brightened his face just like her Steve’s. “Neither can I.”

“Okay, we’re about to push the button.”

Natasha snapped her visor into place. “Okay. I’m ready when you are.”

The portal roared open and she could see her Steve waiting for her on the other side with a different Iron Man. Her Steve shouted, “Trade yours for mine!” 

She stepped through the portal as the other Iron Man did too. She paused. She had questions, but there was no time. Especially since the other Iron Man was already rushing into his Steve’s arms. “Steve – you have no idea how much I missed you –“ 

She never heard the rest since the portal closed behind her and pushed her into Reed’s lab.

“Are you okay?” Natasha asked in concern. Steve’s uniform was torn and marked with repulsor burns and he was bruised on one side of his face.

“We had a little problem with Ultron – but Reed and Tony fixed it.”

“Oh, that –“ She looked back at the now-closed portal. “What was that?”

Reed frowned at his computer. “My theory is that the multiverse is correcting itself. When you went through the portal, the other Iron Man came out. I think everyone is back where they should be now. We shouldn’t have any other problems.”

Steve took her hand and squeezed it. “Are you okay?”

She laid her head on his shoulder. “There are worse things than never meeting you in other universes.” She drew a breath. “They can get married now.”

“I know – Tony couldn’t stop talking about his Steve.” Then he looked a bit sheepish. “He said that his Steve wanted a courthouse wedding, but I told him about our wedding. He might have gotten some ideas –“

Natasha laughed long and hard. “I’m the same in every universe, aren’t I?” She kissed his cheek. “Let’s head to the Tower, lover – we have a big day ahead of us.”


End file.
